Boogers on the Wall

I absolutely hate dealing with car mechanics. Especially when I know they are trying to pull one over on me.

I know nothing about vehicles and therefore have to rely completely on what a mechanic tells me is wrong with my car, how much it is going to cost me and if he actually fixes it. I have sworn off a local body shop forever because I had my old van in four times within six months for the same problem.

The traction system starting acting up last December. By April it was still having problems despite being “fixed” by this shop a couple of times.

When oil started slipping down the side of the tire blackening my hubcap and smelling like burned grease, I brought out the big guns. I finally made my husband call the shop. The owner didn’t make any excuses for him, like he had done for me in the past, he simply told him to bring it in at our earliest convenience and they would take care of it.

That made me mad for two reasons. First, he made it sound like it was a piece of cake for me in my spare time to drop off my only way of transportation to have him try and fix it again. Bring it in at our earliest convenience? I think he meant at our earliest inconvenience. Because it’s never convenient to drive 20 miles, park my van at the shop where I can either hitchhike a ride home or wrestle my boys for hours in the lobby while mechanics try to work on the problem. Normally I have to call my mom to rescue me and drive me home so I don’t freak out at the shop.

Secondly, I hate the fact that they think I won’t notice that they haven’t fixed the problem the first three times I have brought it in. I am sure they look at me as a young, mostly blonde, female and figure I have no idea what they are talking about. I may not know the mechanics of how they fix my car, but I know when it doesn’t actually get fixed. Especially it it’s spewing oil out its hubcap.

A lot of it is probably my fault. I chose this shop because it had the lowest price in town. That should have been a red flag for me, but honestly I don’t think I should have to pay an arm and a leg to diagnose and fix my vehicle.

Finally, the thing that makes me the maddest is I feel like they try to take advantage of the situation because I am a woman. The shop owner seemed to be a lot more accommodating for my husband than he was for me. He definitely had less excuses for him.

I hate sexism – even on the smallest scale. I mean I wasn’t trying to bust through the glass ceiling or anything. I was just trying to get my minivan fixed without having to get my husband involved. Luckily I have not only sold that van but I have vowed to never step foot in that shop again.